Transcript of remarks by Jeff Patterson, Courage to Resist and a former Marine who was court martialed for refusing to fight in the war in Iraq, at a press conference after PFC Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in confinement. The press conference was held on Aug. 21, 2013 at the Hotel at Arundel Preserve in Hanover, Maryland.

Our support network believes one more day in prison for Bradley is an injustice and today we found out the extent of that injustice.

Col. Denise Lind sentenced Bradley today to 12,775 days in prison.

Bradley was mistreated illegally, even according to her, at Quantico Marine Base. She gave him 112 days of credit for that torture-like condition. That’s less than 1% of the sentence that the same judge gave.

What is the deterrent to the military for torturing a military service member as long as they can win or they believe they’re going to win a lengthy sentence? And that’s deeply troubling.

I, myself, was a Marine corporal who refused to go to Iraq, court martialed, and I know the benefits of having public support – people rallying to your defense – and having a first rate legal team.

And I believe our campaign on Bradley’s behalf has been a representation of that. Millions of people coming together – 22,000 people contributing funds so we can hire the legal team of Bradley’s choosing. And his choice was David Coombs.

Over the last three-and-a-half years since I signed the third party agreement to guarantee his representation – at a time when I had about $150 in the bank – we raised $1.4 million to defend Bradley.

And the money that’s gone to David Coombs has been a bargain; he’s worked far beyond – for years – on this case.

Anybody who thinks that Bradley is simply a passenger on this trip was not paying attention.

In retrospect, Mr. Coombs was absolutely the best representation I could have imagined for Bradley Manning.

Hundreds of us engaged in civil disobedience to get him released from Quantico. Thousands marched in the streets. We’ve sent over 100,000 letters to Pentagon officials. A million people have signed petitions.

And now, we’re faced with a new phase of our campaign. We will simply not give up. Bradley will not spend 35 years in prison.

David Coombs will tell you what’s next. Our support network will be financially and literally at his back as he tells you that.